


Of Your Silent Reverie

by roseandheather



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Earn Your Happy Ending, F/M, Gen, Grief, Healing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Team Cowboy, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:25:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9638837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandheather/pseuds/roseandheather
Summary: In the aftermath of everything, Angels Memorial must find time to grieve its own - and reconnect with those they love.





	1. Ethan, Leanne, & Ariel

**Author's Note:**

> "I'd really like to write a long, plotty one-shot examining the aftermath of 'Fallen Angels'," says I.
> 
> "Fuck you, no. This is gonna be a semi-random collection of post-epidemic scenes with all your faves, rhyme and reason not even invited over for tea. Like it or lump it," says my brain.
> 
> Here goes.

**Ethan, Leanne, & Ariel**

The next time he comes to visit Leanne, late at night when everything is (relatively) quiet, she has a small blonde figure sleeping peacefully under her blankets.

"Hey," he says quietly, not sure if either of them are still awake - and not sure if he cares. He nearly  _lost_ her, nearly lost them both, and selfishly, he needs this. 

Leanne's eyes blink open, hazy with sleep. Her hand comes up automatically to caress Ariel's hair, but her eyes are on Ethan, and as she sees him, her smile widens. "Hey yourself," she murmurs, soft and welcoming. "Checking up on me?"

" _Always,_ " he says hoarsely, and is as surprised as she is when his voice cracks on the last syllable.

"Hey now," she admonishes, her voice still low, as Ariel murmurs sleepily and snuggles more closely into her side. "None of that. I'm still here, Ethan. I'm not going anywhere."

"Only because we got lucky," he says harshly, still mindful of the quiet. "Leanne, if things had gone the other way..."

"But they didn't," she interrupts, and smiles that heartbreakingly lovely smile at him. She pats the covers next to her hip, her intention unmistakable, and he walks slowly toward her, easing himself down on the edge of her bed. "They  _didn't,_ Ethan."

He reaches out and takes her free hand, tangles their fingers together.

"I couldn't bear to lose you," he says at last, voice rough. "It's been a long time since I've had something like a family. And..."

She nods, her eyes bright. "You are," she says hoarsely, "the  _best_ brother a girl could ever ask for."

"That's funny," he says, and chokes back his own tears. "I was about to say you were the best  _sister_ a guy could ever ask for." He clutches her hand tighter, drinks in the brightness of her smile. 

He'd almost lost that smile.

"Don't ever do that again," he says harshly. "Not  _ever._ No more of this suicidal madness, you understand?"

She nods, her eyes soft and  _peaceful_ for the first time in all the months he's known her. 

"I won't," she says, and strokes Ariel's hair again, soft and tender. "I have too much to come home to, now."

"You're keeping her, aren't you." It isn't a question.

"Yeah," she says, and nods, her eyes suspiciously bright. "I'm keeping her."

"Mmm?" Ariel stirs, murmuring in sleepy confusion. "Leanne? Whazzit?"

"It's all right, sweetheart." Leanne turns, presses an achingly tender kiss to the crown of Ariel's hair. "Go back to sleep, baby. I've got you."

Ariel sighs, her breath fluttering the fabric of Leanne's hospital gown, and falls back asleep, her breathing smoothing out into a quiet, natural rhythm.

It is, Ethan thinks, one of the most beautiful sights he's ever seen.

"I'll let you get some rest," he says at last, because Leanne is obviously struggling to keep her eyes open. Leanne nods and squeezes his hand, and he squeezes hers in return, relishing the returning strength in her grip.

"Ethan," she says at last, when he's halfway to the door, and smiles that heartstopping smile at him. "I love you, too."

He lets the emotion flood him, and for the first time in so many years, doesn't want to run away.

He coughs, awkward but pleased, and gives in to the impulse that's been nagging him since she first went into quarantine.

He bends, folds her gently into his arms, and kisses her cheek.

It's answer enough, for both of them.

"Get some rest," he says roughly, and gently chucks her under the chin. "That's an order."

"Yes, sir!" Leanne sketches a half-mocking salute in his direction, her eyes dancing with mischief, and mingled with his quiet chuckle is a bone-deep jolt of  _relief_ so profound it nearly buckles his knees.

When he reaches the doorway and looks back at her, she's already asleep, Ariel cradled against her heart.

This time, he doesn't try to stop his tears.


	2. Ed & Leanne

**Ed & Leanne**

He hovers outside her door for what feels like hours.

He just can't stop  _looking_ at her; drinking in the sight of her, really, her dark hair spilling over the pillow, all tousled and shining, with rosy cheeks and impossibly long lashes and a soft, mysterious smile on her face.

She isn't sleeping - her breathing is too regular for that. But her eyes are closed, and her face is peaceful, and he doesn't want to break the spell.

"Get in here," she says lazily, without so much as flickering an eyelash, and he jumps a foot off the floor.

She laughs, soft and silvery, and her eyes flutter open at last.

"Hey," he murmurs, hovering awkwardly at her bedside. His mind is racing so fast it feels blank; everything is a roil of aching relief and the crushing sense that  _he almost lost her,_ and his emotions are so chaotic he can't make head nor tail of them.

Somehow, when Leanne is smiling at him, none of that matters.

"Ed," she says gently, and he blinks at her, startled, realising he's been standing over her bed for minutes on end without moving. That roil of emotion is still there inside his chest, but the steadiness of her gaze steadies him, too, and without even thinking about it he sits on the edge of her bed, takes her hand, and presses her fingers to his lips.

"Oh,  _Ed,_ " she says hoarsely, and he's startled to realise that he's crying.

Then, quite suddenly, he can't seem to _stop_.

"Oh,  _God,_ Leanne!" he cries out, and then her arms come around him as he sinks to sit on the edge of her bed, and her fingers stroke through his hair as his tears soak the thin fabric of her hospital gown.

"I know," she murmurs hoarsely, the warmth of her breath caressing the side of his face. "I know. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," he gulps, fingers flexing against her back. "But God, I was  _trapped_ up there, there was  _nothing_ I could do and you were in that tent and I - "

"I know," she says again, soft and sympathetic, and something inside him breaks.

"No," he says harshly, pulling away to look at her, distantly aware of the tears still streaking down his cheeks. "No, you don't. I  _love_ you, Leanne. If this nightmare taught me nothing else it taught me that, and I'm sorry if you're not ready, I'm sorry if it's too soon, but I can't go another day without - "

She kisses him.

Warm and soft and willing, she kisses him as though she'll die without it, and he can do nothing else except clutch her more fiercely to him and thank a God he only half believes in that she's here with him still. This is air, it's oxygen, it's the whole meaning of his life wrapped up in sixty-four inches of fearless, fascinating, impossible, wonderful woman, and he can't let her go. Not now. Not  _ever._

She moans and he gasps and then the kiss is over and she's crying now, too, her forehead pressed to his as tears leak from the corners of her eyes and her face is wreathed in a brilliant, breathtaking smile.

"I love you, too," she whispers, her breath puffing warm and tantalizing over his lips, something almost like wonder shimmering in her voice. "I do, Ed. I really, really do."

"Oh, Leanne," he says, because there's nothing else he _can_ say, and his hand comes up to stroke a thumb over the curve of her cheekbone. She smiles at him, eyes damp and brilliant, and he laughs, just a little. "What now? Where do we go from here?"

Her eyes flutter and he feels her go still, but she's still holding on to him, and that has to be something, doesn't it?

"I don't know," she admits, quiet and unsure. "With Ariel, and everything that's happened... it's all so unsettled, we've lost so much and I don't - "

"Have dinner with me," he blurts out, and her eyes fly open.

"Huh?"

She looks  _adorable,_ caught somewhere between confusion and joy, and he feels the smile welling up from deep within him. "Have dinner with me. Somewhere nice, but not  _too_ nice. Let me take you out and bring you flowers, and kiss you goodnight on your doorstep at a somewhat respectable hour. I've heard that's what you do when you're courting someone."

" _Courting?_ " she chokes, and he relishes the sight of Leanne Marie Rorish utterly off balance.

"Courting," he says softly, but full of meaning. "I couldn't do anything less with you. You know that, right?"

Her eyes meet his, and deep in shimmering brown, he sees understanding dawn.

 _This is the first day of the rest of our lives,_ he thinks, and doesn't feel even a little bit scared.

Her smile, when it comes, could put the stars themselves to shame.

"All right," she says, her voice rich and husky. "Yes, to dinner. And yes to everything else."

This time, when the tears fall down his face, he doesn't try to stop them.

 


End file.
